"Please no more," a young girl whimpered.
The white man sneered at the pitiful wounded girl. He grabbed a chunk of her matted, golden hair.
"I thought I told you to shut up brat!" He yelled, with the strong scent of alcohol in his hot breath as he flung her across the room. Her body hit the wall with a thud and she screeched out in pain. She dared not to move, in fear he might hit her again. She closed her eyes and hoped he would be satisfied with tonight. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her ribs as he kicked her. With a yelp, she drew her legs in close to her stomach and laid there. She felt herself be picked up by a leg, putting strain on her body and was thrown back into her cage in the basement. The sound of the latch closing echoed and then she heard his footsteps grow fainter by the second.
She slowly opened her eyes, scared that he might be waiting to beat her again. Nothing. She felt relived to be in darkness. He had shut off the lights. The darkness meant no harm. No pain. No yelling. It was heaven. She winced as she tried to change her position. She eyed the plate of scraps that was sitting in the corner of the dog cage, meant for large dogs. Not seven year old girls. Reaching out, she grabbed a chicken bone that had a bit of meat still on it and picked off the bits of fat left on the small bone. After finishing off the bone, she finished off the rest of the plate and licked it clean. She then curled up at the back of the cave and let sleep consume her.
Morning came the next day. Loud footsteps told her that he was coming back. Probably to beat her some more. She tightened her body into a ball and hoped that he would ignore her. Even if it meant no breakfast. She heard the latch creak open and a rough hand grabbed her shirt. She was dragged out and was shoved into a corner.
"It's you're fault you little brat!" He spat, saliva scattering all over her pale face. She kept her eyes closed and prepared for the worse. Pain shot through her nervous system as he hit the spot he kicked yesterday. She clamped her mouth shut in attempts not to yelp in pain. Noise meant more beating. She slowly opened her eyes to see a piece of paper in his hand.
"If I didn't have to take care of you, I wouldn't have to pay as much for the bill!" He said angrily, his words being sloshed around. He turned around quickly and went out of the room. The girl sighed in relief and let her muscles relax. He didn't beat her as much in the morning. He always had to leave. She heard the basement door click, she knew that meant he locked it. That didn't matter anyways. The few times it was unlocked and she tried to get out, she got caught and was beat even more.
She sat in the room silently and looked around. Cobwebs that were scattered around the dusty room. Pantries that was once filled with food, but was quickly taken out as soon as he realized that she was hungry enough the climb the pantries to get even the smallest of crumbs. Now was replaced with deadly tools. Her cage. And a few other things she wasn't exactly sure what they were. There was nothing she could do but sleep. So, once again, she curled up and fell into the abyss that promised her freedom.
A loud slam awoken her. He was back. She instantly felt fear as she heard distant sounds of him doing whatever he did in the house. She prayed he wasn't in a bad mood as she heard his footsteps come to the door. The door clicked as it unlocked, and creaked as it opened. And once again, the man appeared.
She gulped and eyed the man, not making a sound. Suddenly his slim lips spread into an ugly grin. In his hand was a small oval shaped object. Her eyes widened as his other hand moved toward her, and she prepared for him to hit her. But to her surprise, his hand went not toward her, but onto the object on his other hand. He pulled something shiny and sharp out of it and held it up in front of her.
Never had he gone this far. Never had he done something like this. He grabbed her hair and brought her skinny neck toward him. She kept her body limp, scared of the new unknown object, and pressed it across her neck. She didn't move, nor struggle, as she felt a hot, sticky liquid run down her throat.
"Heh! I barely cut you this time, but next time it will be deeper and more painful!" He said as he dropped her onto the ground. She yelped slightly as she landed on her stomach, before swallowing her cries. He threw a small rag and breakfast onto the stairs as he walked back out.
The girl hurriedly crawled over to the food and grabbed as much of the leftover egg as she could and shoved it into her mouth. She was glad he wasn't much of a morning eater, yet he still made a decent amount of food. Which meant more leftovers for her. She picked up the rag, wondering what she was supposed to do with it. Than she remembered the new wound he inflicted on her. It wasn't the first time he drew blood, but it was the most he had drawn at once. She gently pressed the dry rag onto her neck and winced. But she knew it was better than leaving it to crust up onto her neck. After doing her best attempt to clean up her neck, she put the rag into her cage. She might need to use it later. She smacked her dry lips, but she knew she wouldn't get her water until the next feeding time.
She scavenged around the area for more bits of food that she may of missed and then fell asleep.
She woke up in the darkness. Had he come back and decided she was not worth his time and merely turned off the lights? She blinked a few times but did not see him. Not that she could see much at all.
She jerked her head toward the door as he heard yelling. A man and a woman. Suddenly she heard a door slam and she winced. Loud footsteps pounded toward the basement door. She whimpered as the man threw open the door with a twisted look on his face.
"You're the reason my life is like this you little brat! I can't find good work! I can't find a good girl! I can't keep up with the bills! And it's all your fault!" He yelled. He brought out the strange object again and yanked her toward him. He smiled in that twisted way of his.
"This will teach you who's in charge," he muttered as he transformed the oval object into a small silver blade. He started to cut her all over, not that deep at first, but started to go deeper as he unleashed his anger onto her. She gasped out in pain as red liquid oozed out of cuts all over her body. He then picked her up and put her into her cage. She thought she heard the latch shut, but she wasn't sure, since she could only hear blood roaring in her ears. She lay, in too much pain to move. Her purple bruises were already making it hard for her to move. Now she was losing blood. She saw through her fuzzy eyesight, scarlet on her dirty sheets she was given to sleep on. She felt tired all of a sudden, but it felt somehow different. It was comforting. It seemed to promise peace. Her eyes felt heavy, and it was getting harder to stay awake by the second. Than she lay at ease as she allowed it to take over. As she fell into a deep slumber.
~She opened her eyes and saw she was in her old room. Where she lived before the abuse started. She rubbed her eyes and scooted off her small bed. She examined the room and walls; it looked so familiar, yet so unreal. The door was cracked so she slowly peeled open the door and peeked outside. Nothing.
She stepped out into the hallway and entered the living room. The kitchen was on the right side of the room and it was open to the living room. Suddenly the door beside the kitchen, the front door, opened. The man stepped inside. The girl flinched and was about to run and hide when she noticed he was...smiling?
"Hey sweetie! Come here and give daddy some love?" He asked happily.
She didn't move.
He stepped forward, his smile turning to a frown.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
She backed away, and prepared to run.
"CoMe On, It'S aLriGhT," he said as his voice started to become disorientated and strange. He had a strange expression on his face as he walked toward her with open arms.
She tried to scream as his arms wrapped around her, choking her.~
She gasped as her eyes shot open. A dream... It was only a dream. She winced as she tried to sit up. She remembered her new injuries and the pain hit her like a brick. They only stung, but it did hurt.
She blinked in the darkness. Then she heard a click and a light shown through the basement. She scrambled to the back of the cage, ignoring the sharp pain. The man appeared from the doorway once again, with a grim expression. He undid the latch and slung open the cage door.
"Get out," He said gruffly.
The small girl didn't hesitate to move out and sit in front of him, not making eye contact.
He turned away from her, she noticed he seemed more somber then normal, "Why have you done this too me?" He asked," Why did your mother leave us? You realize it was your fault she's gone?" His voice was starting to rise in volume.
He walked a few feet away and suddenly turned toward his daughter.
"It's time for you to pay the ultimate price!" he said as he came closer to the shivering girl. He grabbed her by her hair and yanked her to his height. She squirmed slightly but quickly stopped as he pulled her closer to his face. His hot breath warming her face.
"Are you ready girl?"
She gulped. The ultimate price? What could he mean? He easily tossed her across the room, her body creating a loud thump as she hit the floor. He got down on his knees and held her by the neck to the ground.
Her survival instincts started to kick in and she started to squirm, but then she realized. Did she really want to continue living? She allowed herself be pressed down to the ground, the pain was slipping away anyways. Maybe the more pain he inflicted, the less it hurt? She felt herself losing consciousness and smiled. Pain was nothing to her anymore. She could no longer feel it. It couldn't hurt her anymore.
She closed her eyes, his yelling fading into the distance.
"Goodnight...daddy," she whispered under her breath, using the last of her air to say those final two words.
"I'm free..."